Top wrestling states: Georgia

October 31, 2:26 AMPro Wrestling ExaminerMark Satrang

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In the deep south of the United States, pro wrestling has always been a huge deal. In the state of Georgia things were no different.

Home to the wildly successful Georgia Championship Wrestling in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the state thrived with solid professional wrestling. The GCW television program was broadcast every Saturday evening on the fledgling WTBS cable channel where big stars from the National Wrestling Alliance battled one another.

The hugely successful GCW brand ceased to be when majority owners of the company, Jack & Gerry Briscoe, sold their stock to Vince McMahon and the WWF in exchange for jobs in the WWF. WWF promptly liquidated GCW and took over their television timeslot on TBS. On July 14, 1984, Vince McMahon stepped out on onto television at the GCW television studio and announced that “World Championship Wrestling,” GCW’s television show, would now feature the stars of the WWF. And instead of showing live, in-studio matches as promised, the broadcast featured matches and clips from various events and programs already under the WWF umbrella.

The day is affectionately known as “Black Saturday” in pro wrestling circles. The new direction of “World Championship Wrestling” caused an immediate revolt with long-time Georgia Championship Wrestling fans. The new WWF owned show was a ratings disaster for TBS and was a failure among fans. Ted Turner, owner of TBS, allowed Bill Watts’ Mid-South Wrestling and a newly re-launched “Championship Wrestling from Georgia” television timeslots as well, both of which outdrew the WWF program in spades.

”Black Saturday”

Within a year, McMahon sold his TBS timeslot and the Georgia Championship Wrestling moniker to Jim Crockett Promotions, who owned Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. This eventually led to Crockett selling his whole outfit to Ted Turner, and thus creating the World Championship Wrestling promotion, which happened to based out of CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

When WCW was on top of the wrestling world in the late ‘90s, the whole outfit was run out of Atlanta, making Georgia a true wrestling stronghold. The massive Georgia Dome became WCW new home arena, replacing the old Omni Coliseum, and was home to one of WCW’s most famous matches – the July 6, 1998, WCW World Championship bout that saw Bill Goldberg beat Hulk Hogan to win the Championship. It was a huge match for the company and drew a monster cable television rating.

The state of Georgia has always prided itself on a more realistic based wrestling product, opposite WWF’s cartoon-like characters and storylines. Georgia made men like Tommy Rich and Buzz Sawyer into household names thanks to their two-year feud that culminated with the “Last Battle of Atlanta” steel cage Last Man Standing match that saw Rich win the match and the Georgia National Championship.

In the old days it was a territory that featured supremely talented in-ring wrestlers; men that could draw a crowd and literally talk fans into buying tickets to see them perform. Because of that many top stars like Ole Anderson, Ricky Steamboat, Harley Race, The Road Warriors, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Blackjack Mulligan, Ted DiBiase and Dusty Rhodes all made their mark in Georgia.

In today’s international wrestling climate, Georgia does not hold the same esteem it once had, but there is no denying the rich wrestling history and tradition found within the state.